The Effects of Metropolitan Governance Discontinuities. A research framework and some preliminary comparative results in London, Mexico City, Paris, and Sao Paulo.
Presented by Tommaso Vitale, Associate Professor of Sociology at Sciences Po, Centre d'études européennes (Paris, France), and the UP Capital Cities Institutional Research Theme
Venue: Sanlam Auditorium, Economic & Management Sciences Lecture Hall, behind the UP Conference Centre
Location: University of Pretoria Hatfield Campus
Parking: UP Conference Centre reserved parking
Have large metropolises become so complex to be ungovernable? Do globalization pressures make political and policy choices irrelevant? Going beyond rational or positivist views of governance, the process of governing a metropolitan region is never fully complete, nor linear. Governance discontinuities are salient as entry points to explore (1) how processes of governance operate in relation to urban development projects, and (2) the effects of policy implementation on inequalities and social opportunities; so to say articulating an analysis of the governance processes, policy implementation and their outcomes. Evidence is provided from four large metropolises. What is not governed is important as much as what is governed.
Tommaso Vitale is the scientific director of the master's degree programme in "Governing the Large Metropolis". His main research interests are in the fields of Comparative Urban Sociology where he has published books and articles on conflicts and urban change, on spatial segregation, on social service planning, and on élite and local governance of industrial restructuring. His main research topics are
1) Tensions between endogenous and exogenous mechanisms of urban change;
2) Social effects of governance discontinuities;
3) Structural contexts of opportunities;
4) Social effects of minority visibility and segregation.
